Golden-shouldered Parrot

1. Male’s vivid turquoise body, yellow forecrown, tiny black cap, and red to salmon-pink lower belly

2. Golden-yellow shoulder patch on otherwise brownish wings

3. Slender body and long, tapered tail

These parrots are ground-feeding seed specialists, relying heavily on small grass seeds-especially firegrass-during the dry season. For nesting, they excavate tunnels (typically 5–35 cm long) in conical termite mounds, timing excavation just after the wet season when the mounds are soft. The mounds provide insulation, maintaining stable nest temperatures. Females lay 3–6 eggs, incubated for about 20 days; chicks fledge after approximately five weeks. A remarkable symbiotic relationship exists with the antbed parrot moth (*Trisyntopa scatophaga*), whose larvae consume nestling waste, helping keep the nest clean.

Golden-shouldered Parrots are found only in central and southern Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, inhabiting open eucalypt and melaleuca woodlands with abundant termite mounds. During breeding (April–June), they favour woodlands near watercourses; after breeding, they disperse locally and may be seen in coastal or estuarine mangroves. Their habitat is characterized by open grasslands dotted with termite mounds, which are crucial for nesting